lingering_time
The 'lingering_time' directive in NGINX specifies the period to wait for requests before closing a connection.
Description
The 'lingering_time' directive is used to control how long NGINX will wait for further requests from a client before tearing down a connection, allowing for a grace period to enhance user experience by accommodating late requests. This feature can be beneficial in situations where a client might send additional requests right after the previous one has been received. The argument for 'lingering_time' is measured in seconds and determines the duration of this waiting period.
When a client closes the connection (e.g., a browser tab closes), NGINX can still keep the connection open for a specified 'lingering_time' if this directive is set. During this time, if another request is received from the same client, NGINX can process it without establishing a new connection, thus improving response times and reducing resource consumption. The directive can be useful in high-traffic environments where maintainable connections can lead to reduced latency and better overall performance.
Config Example
http {
lingering_time 10;
server {
listen 80;
location / {
root html;
index index.html index.htm;
}
}
}Setting 'lingering_time' too high may lead to resource exhaustion as connections remain open longer than necessary, affecting server performance.
If not set properly, clients may experience abrupt terminations of their connections due to server resource limits.
This directive may be less effective over HTTP/2 connections which have their own connection management principles.